Menorise; Saturday Sayings

"Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life."

(Omar Khayyam)

Menodyoucayzhunal; A Little Tutorial

Earlier this week, Sandra the Madsnapper was lamenting issues with Feedly, which (apparently) a lot of folk use to access blogs they wish to read. There are other aggregators out there too. I never have used one - and do not foresee ever using one. I like fine the reading list in the Blogger dashboard. One can add sites other than Blogger - and indeed those Blogger blogs that don't have the 'followers' widget for convenience. I have written about this on 'etherwobblies' posts before, but Sandra went through the basics on her blog this week, so do have a look if you do not know at this point how to add a URL to your reading list on the Blogger dashboard.

In an adjunct to this, it is useful to have all the blogs you follow listed somewhere on your own blog. This is not only a backup for yourselves but allows other readers to follow their noses if they are interested to see the sorts of connections you make and to discover more in the network that is this wonderful medium. If you look to the footer of this blog, you will see I have my many connections broken into four categories... you don't have to do that, but it can also help if you have as many as I do (80-ish!) and with varying interests. 

I have them set up with a max of five on display, but you can click the 'show all' button to see the full list in each category. You may have as many as you like listed, but the maximum that can be displayed as the 'window' is ten. ... Sooooo... I hear you wonder... how did she do that? Well, allow me to show you... Press play and pay attention! (NB - use the exand icon on this to view it full screen - it really helps!)

So that is;

• dashboard - LAYOUT
• layout - PAGE TO SIDE BAR OR FOOTER
• SELECT ADD GADGET
• page down and look for BLOG LIST 
• click that and proceed to add selections from your blogroll.
• don't forget to save not just in the gadget itself, but on the blog at bottom right of the screen!

TAKE NOTE - to use this effectively you need to have ensured that all the addresses you wish to add are already added into your dashboard address list. That way they turn up in the reading list - and on the blog list on your blog if you have selected them.

As we all know, there are gremlins everywhere, not least in comments at the moment, but also in the reader. Sometimes things take as much as a day to post there - but mostly it is fine and this blog list on the blog is pretty much always up to date. 

That's enough for one day. Time for tea... 

Menootanaboot; Less Discovery, More Recovery

Waking up on that Thursday of her trip to the Hutch, Mac1 and I couldn't quite believe our luck that we had the second day of pretty decent weather. Not quite up to the standard of the previous day, but vary acceptable indeed. One of the main incentives of this visit for my sister was an artist she follows in the instything having a couple of items included in an exhibition by the Scottish Society of Artists at the Dunoon Burgh Hall. We thus determined that, following our usual extended brekky and multi-cup tea session, we'd walk there via the back road and return home via the shore. Mind you, in typical clan fashion, it ended up being after lunch that we actually got moving. We got distracted doing puzzles and debating the ills of the world. As you do. Also, I had to divvy up the fresh paneer and 'vacon' and 'unsausages' that she had brought me and get them into the freezer. She decided this was worth recording. I am less sure of that need, but here it is for posterity anyway!

Having recently had to defrost the freezer after an open-door incident, I had only just restocked the day before she came. This meant puzzling out the best packaging and some shifting around to ensure everything would fit - hence the cry of triumph that makes it look like I am in pain.

Moving on. The afternoon continued its fair weather, and we ambled along Victoria Road before descending into the main street. On the way, we passed a house with a plaque. Plaques are a bit of a thing, don't you find?

Along the way, we admired many pretty gardens with unusual blooms (to be seen on Me-Now-Views and TAKE bloggy). Dropping down by St John's church, we approached the burgh hall from its rear. It had undergone major refurbishment not long after I arrived in the town, but we found that the backside was again under scaffolding. Works were clearly being undertaken on the roof and stonework. I had not visited for quite some time, so it was good to see the old place being loved. I was surprised to discover that the entry had been entirely altered, with a wheelchair ramp included, very pretty garden arrangements and the old lamps completely revamped. Very smart indeed. Inside there had been a bit of a change as well, but the main exhibition room remained as was. In there, we found an exhibition that we both truly enjoyed. We remarked in our review of our day that it had been a long time since either of us observed an exhibition in which we actually liked the majority of the works on show. In the image that Mac1 snuck of me, you see the main item from Alasdair Wallace, which was the prompt for the visit.

We took our time and properly absorbed what we were seeing. It really was impressive, and out of the 50-ish things on display, I can honestly say there was only a handful that had me curling my toes. The rest all had merit to be found. 

Exiting the hall, we cut down to the shoreline road and meandered back in the direction of the Hutch, making full use of the many bench seats provided along the way to enjoy the weather, the views and the occasional chatter with passers-by. We met and engaged with several dogs and, at one point, had a lengthy conversation with a chap whose King Charles Cavalier dog, Oscar, seemed to be on turbo boosters. The man was visiting from Edinburgh, and it turned out his sister lives in one of the big houses that have a gate onto the promenade. Mac1 treated me to a chocolate milkshake, (Oreo biscuit, no less! She had Nutella)  that we both agreed was quite filling, so it was a light tea for us that evening.

That had been two days of quite significant walking for me, and it was not without some relief that we awoke on Friday to find the weather had resorted to situation normal. Cold, wet and windy! Mac1 had anyway arranged to meet up with one of her needlework buddies who happens to live here, so I was quite content to sit and enjoy some recovery time. In the afternoon, we watched some catchup teevee together. Mac1 had to leave on Saturday to go and stay with another needlework friend for a party before getting back to Edinburgh. She's a busy one, my sis! 

It only remains to share the stained glass windows from our church tour with you. I haven't quite decided where or when, but keep your eyes peeled!